South Geelong to Waurn Ponds Duplication marks new major milestones

Major milestones have been reached on the South Geelong to Waurn Ponds Duplication project, which is part of a staged upgrade on Victoria’s busiest regional rail line – the Geelong Line. 

The new milestones include the release of early concept designs and the announcement of shortlisted contractors for the construction of the project. 

“The Geelong community has been given its first glimpse at the designs for the upgrades to be delivered as part of the South Geelong to Waurn Ponds Duplication. The local Geelong community has the opportunity to provide feedback on all aspects of the project. Shortlisted contractors have also been announced and selected to provide detailed proposals to deliver the project,” Regional Rail Revival said in a statement. 

With the designs revealed, the community and passengers are now encouraged to provide their feedback on the key elements of the project. 

The early concept designs include an elevated rail bridge option for the removal of level crossings at Fyans Street and Surf Coast Highway. This option will help improve safety as well as traffic flow for the 36,000 vehicles passing through this area each day. 

Building a new rail bridge at Fyans Street in South Geelong will remove trains from the complex five-way roundabout, while the elevated rail line at Surf Coast Highway will be moved away from local residences, providing “new green open spaces between homes and trains”. 

The South Geelong to Waurn Ponds Duplication project will include: 

• Duplicating around 8 kilometres of track between South Geelong and Waurn Ponds 
• Rebuilding South Geelong and Marshall stations to feature new station buildings and forecourts, second platforms and accessible pedestrian overpasses 
• Removal of the level crossings at Fyans Street and Surf Coast Highway and replaced with elevated rail bridges 
• Signalling upgrades between South Geelong and Waurn Ponds 
• More than 5 kilometres of new shared user paths linking to existing trails and paths and creating a continuous connection between South Geelong and Waurn Ponds 
• A business case to determine the infrastructure required to deliver even more services, including upgrades to the rail tunnel between Geelong and South Geelong and the rail line over the Barwon River 

South Geelong to Waurn Ponds Duplication map (source: Regional Rail Revival)

Community consultation for the South Geelong to Waurn Ponds Duplication is ongoing and the local Geelong community can provide their feedback until 5th September 2021. 

For more information on the community consultation and how to provide feedback, you can check the project’s dedicated page on Engage Victoria here. 

In addition to the release of early concept designs, shortlisted contractors for this project have also been announced. 

The two shortlisted consortia are: 

• CUBG – comprised of CPB Contractors, UGL, Beca and GHD 
• Djilang Alliance – comprised of McConnell Dowell, Downer, Arup and WSP Australia 

The contract is anticipated to be awarded by mid-2022, with construction of the project expected to commence at the end of 2022. 

The South Geelong to Waurn Ponds Duplication project is targeted to be completed in late 2024. 

Source: Victoria’s Big Build – Regional Rail Revival (1, 2, 3); Engage Victoria